Anti-jewish Incidents Reach New High

[Shinobi]

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

OTTAWA - Anti-Semitic incidents reached an all-time high in Canada last year, according to an annual report by B’Nai Brith, and they are increasingly being committed with the help of the Internet.

In 2006, there were 935 recorded incidents, a 12.9 per cent increase over the previous year, the audit found.

Anita Bromberg, legal counsel for the Jewish advocacy group, said that the numbers are only the tip of the iceberg because only a small minority of incidents are reported.

At a press conference in Ottawa to present the report, Bromberg called the increase in anti-Jewish incidents “startling.” In 1982, for example, there were only 63 incidents reported, she said.

“It suggests in a way that’s really undeniable, no matter how much we try to deny it, that anti-Semitism is a real concerning problem in Canada today,” said Bromberg, “and indeed the cracks in the fabrics of multiculturalism that allow the underlying prejudice to manifest itself, in ways that are increasingly public and aggressive, should be of concern to all.”

B’Nai Brith divides the cases into three categories: harassment, vandalism and violence.

There were 588 cases of harassment in 2006, 317 cases of vandalism and 30 cases of violence. Violent incidents were up 20 per cent from the previous year.

The group says there has been a large jump in the number of Internet-based cases of harassment - up 54 per cent from 2005. Of the 253 Internet-based cases of harassment, 124 were direct threats communicated by email.

In addition to email, blogs and online social networks are being used more and more, Bromberg noted.

“Clearly this type of hate activity is growing year by year,” said Bromberg

There was a marked spike in the number of incidents in the summer of 2006, the audit found. Twenty-eight per cent of the total number of cases reported happened in July and August, amidst the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon.

“The year 2006 proved how major international crises in the Middle East in particular have caused direct ripple effects in Canada,” said Bromberg. February also saw a spike in cases, at the time when cartoons of the Muslim prophet Muhammad published in Denmark caused a global controversy and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denied the Holocaust.

Ontario saw the most number of anti-Semitic incidents reported with 569, followed by Quebec with 226 cases. Together the two provinces made up 84 per cent of the total number of cases reported.

Frank Dimant, executive vice-president of B’Nai Brith said that the situation is “more frightening than ever” in Canada and that particularly disturbing is that anti-Semitism found its way into the political process during the Liberal leadership race. During the leadership election period a story emerged that delegates were urged not to vote for Bob Rae because his wife is Jewish.

“This integration of hatred into the political process is one that is alarming, frightening, and something that should be of concern to every single Canadian,” Dimant told a news conference.

He warned that unless the tide of anti-Semitism is stemmed, there will be consequences for all Canadians.

“We must do everything we can to ensure that we go back to being what we envisioned: a society of multiculturalism full of tolerance for all,” he said.

http://dose.canada.com/news/story.html?id=...17-c3cb66283afc

[deathstickboy]

Its hardly accurate since the Bnai Brith doesn't count "acts of hate" against Arabs as acts of anti-semitism....